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By Sam WoodTHE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER • Tuesday April 30, 2013 6:18 AM

PHILADELPHIA — A passenger who flew from Philadelphia to San Francisco was detained on arrival
by federal agents after a vindictive flight attendant claimed he had not flushed a lavatory toilet,
according to a federal suit.

The suit, which seeks $500,000 in damages, was filed last week in San Francisco.

Salvatore Bevivino, 52, a business manager for Genentech, boarded a Virgin America flight on
April 28, 2012. After the plane reached cruising altitude over Indiana, he pushed the call button
and asked for a soda.

According to the suit, two attendants refused to serve Bevivino, saying he should request the
beverage using a computer touch screen on the back of the facing seat.

After Bevivino said he would contact Virgin America, a third attendant brought him the soda.

When the aircraft landed at San Francisco International, Bevivino said he was pulled aside by
the plane’s captain “as a person of suspicion.” The pilot then asked a half-dozen uniformed police,
FBI and TSA agents to remove Bevivino.

According to a police incident report, a flight attendant said someone passed by the open
restroom door after Bevivino used it and saw he had not flushed.